Final Thoughts

[tygati]

First, an apology. I don't normally let things get to me... heck, I don't normally notice that there are lurkers, much less mind them. So I am sorry I let one incident upset me so much. :( You all are wonderful and I love you all dearly for sticking with me and enjoying my stories, as silly and pointless as they are. ^^;

Secondly, my thoughts on comments, from both a writer and a reader's point of view.

There is no such thing as a useless comment. I get a kick out of 'incoherent' comments, because they mean I did something right to reduce my readers to mindless squeeing. One of my favorite short comments is one Nikery left, that went something along the lines of: "GUH! Wait, I can write more... no, no I really can't. GUH." ^____^ Still makes me smile.

Just because someone already said what you were going to say does not make your opinion any less important. If more than one person liked a particular thing about a story, it lets me know that I'm on the right track there and a similar situation would probably be equally well-liked in future stories. :)

Have a favorite line or scene? Quote it! It gives me lots of warm fuzzies when a reader particularly likes a scene that I'm fond of. Plus, it lets me squee with you. ^___^ I'm very dorky that way.

Really, even a totally pointless, inane comment lets me know that the time I spent writing it was worth it to someone. And it's great encouragement. More on this later.

As for you lurkers... *waves madly* I don't bite! Really! And trust me when I say that whatever stupid comment you think you'd make, I've done worse, and will do worse. Being an idiot seems to be part of my life. ^__^ So really, nothing you say will ever be dumber than what I have or will do. I walk into doors (open and closed) and fall over from a standing position. >.>; Yeah. ^^; Remember nikerymksherea's Nikkai? She based him off of me. *sheepish grin*

Also, Lurkers = new opinions. After a while a writer learns what her 'regular' readers like and sometimes tailors things to suit. New opinions mean an opportunity for a writer to grow and challenge herself with more diverse stories. All opinions are valuable. They may not always be acted upon, but they're still valuable information.

Confidence. We have none. Zero. This comic I was linked to summarizes pretty well. We are our own worst enemies. The first hour or three from when a story is first posted until the first comment arrives are always the worst, because you sit there biting your nails going "It sucks, it sucks, it sucks, they're going to hate it, I should never have posted it..." There's this terrible insecurity involved with putting your heart on paper, so you fret horribly over whether people think that this thing you love dearly is crap or not.

People are very fragile, and we of the creative persuasion always seem to think the worst of ourselves. Though a person may not comment on a wonderful story because they think they have nothing worth saying, to an author, the thought process goes something like this: Nobody commented = nobody read it (OR) nobody liked it = ZOMG I SUCK I WILL NEVER WRITE AGAIN!!! *SOB*

No, really. We're rather pathetic that way. And amazingly insecure. I'd post snippits of conversation between myself and maderr in which we're trying to convince each other we don't suck, but she'd probably kill me. ^^; Suffice to say it happens with every single story we write. In M's case, every single chapter. >.>;

Finally, my thoughts as a Reader. Always, always, when I read something I try to leave a comment. Not just because it's polite, but because of a certain way of thinking I have that's always served me rather well in the past. It goes like this:

Comment Thought Process: Author writes pretty story. I read pretty story. Want more pretty story. Gush and squee and profuse undying love to Author. Author will write more story! Yay! Victory! ^^;

And nine times out of ten, it works. I don't really care if I make an idiot out of myself in the process. If it nets me more story, all's good. ;)

*hugs and cookies to you all*

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

It's not that I'm intimidated by the author or my thought process has stopped from the stuff I've read, I just don't know what to say. I'm sorry if this sounds offending but it's the truth. What should I say? Will this make me sound stupid? Do I have enough time? Will this make a difference? Most times I skip around sites without reviewing because it doesn't occur to me. I may write something down and then look at it and say, "Hey, this sounds stupid. Why would I write that? Look at all the misspellings!" I know it's not the same thing but the comments I leave are kinda like my 'stories'. I write my opinion and leave it there, knowing I can never take it down. It takes a lot of guts and passion to write something down knowing a lot of people will look at it, that's a reason why I can admire writers. But the thing is I don't always feel that strongly, I read the story and move on. Make no mistake, I enjoy it a lot!! But that doesn't always make me review. When I wrote earlier that I wasn't intimidated by the author that is true, but that doesn't mean that I wasn't intimidated. Sometimes I'm unsure of what to write or if I put down the wrong thing. I know one time I mangled a character's name in a review and I am SO glad that the author was okay with it! Long story short if my reviews are 'stories' and I'm not a good 'writer.' It doesn't occur to me TO review sometimes. And to make this crystal clear, THIS DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T LIKE THE STORIES I READ!!! I DO LIKE THEM!! I am a lurker and I know it, it's hard to change a habit. In fact one of the reasons why I didn't start reviewing as soon as I was introduced to livejournal was that I didn't even know I could. Actually a better explanation is that I didn't know how and I didn't try. Looking back at my review it seems like a lot of blabbing and not making sense to me, but they are my thoughts on this so I won't erase this review before I post it.
In a nutshell, I'm a lurker and I know it. I like the stories I read(not all of them technically) but that doesn't guaranty a review.
On the positive side, you're feeling better!! I have been reviewing more since I read your sad post awhile ago. And you used the link to my comic!! That makes me SOOO HAPPY!!^_^ I like to help people out but I sometimes give the wrong information so I feel bad about it later. But I also love helping people find things to read whether it's books or websites!!

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*lol* That's quite alright. *snug* I really did enjoy the link. It made me giggle. ^_____^ And so SO true. Nobody is allowed to see my old works. They are PAINFUL. x.x